Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NVO) reported fourth quarter and full 12 months 2024 earnings Wednesday, beating Wall Road’s expectations and bumping its fill up greater than 3% in pre-market buying and selling.
The corporate reported full 12 months income of $40.5 billion, up 25% in comparison with 2023. For the fourth quarter, Novo reported $11.6 billion in revenues, up 30% in comparison with the identical quarter in 2023. The outcomes largely beat Wall Road’s estimates of $39.8 billion for full 12 months, and $11.2 billion for the fourth quarter.
The corporate’s blockbuster semaglutide medicine, Wegovy for weight reduction and Ozempic for diabetes, are key to the corporate’s beat. Mixed, they introduced in $24.9 billion for the 12 months. That is in comparison with the 2023 full 12 months income of $18.5 billion. The gross sales account for 60% of the entire income.
The 2 GLP-1s have given Novo an enviable spot within the weight reduction market, with 52% of the market. The increase in income from gross sales within the final a number of years have earned the corporate the title of largest firm in Europe, by market cap, at greater than $375 billion.
Novo’s earnings outcomes Wednesday differ from Eli Lilly’s, whose stock slid on slower-than-expected sales of weight reduction medicine in the direction of the tip of the 12 months. Novo noticed However Novo mentioned Wednesday it expects slower development in 2025 in comparison with the prior 12 months.
The 2024 outlook estimated between 18%-26% development, in the meantime the corporate introduced development between 16%-24% for 2025.
The expansion has include velocity bumps alongside the way in which, particularly prior to now 12 months.
The corporate’s subsequent technology of weight reduction medicine hasn’t satisfied buyers of blockbuster potential to rival the present medicine. Late-stage trial knowledge of CagriSema confirmed a 22.7% weight reduction — which is roughly the identical competitor Eli Lilly’s (LLY) medicine — late final 12 months. However executives mentioned the corporate is working on a second trial. In the meantime, the inventory popped last month on positive early trial data of one other subsequent technology drug, amycretin.
The semaglutide medicine are additionally nonetheless on the FDA’s scarcity listing, which suggests compounding pharmacies are nonetheless capable of promote knockoff variations. Novo is engaged on constructing new manufacturing websites to fight this, and the closing of the Catalent deal on the finish of 2024, that can add three new websites.
The corporate will now have 14 manufacturing websites in whole, CEO Lars Jørgensen mentioned on an earnings name Wednesday. And the deal will lead to a success of $1.26 billion this 12 months from debt financing.
One other potential headwind is Medicare drug pricing negotiations. The earnings report is the primary since Medicare included the corporate’s blockbuster diabetes and weight reduction medicine on its negotiation listing for this 12 months, with costs going into impact in 2027.
